Winds can definitely take there toll on the tree population. We're not subject to the strong winds on a regular basis in Memphis, but this summer we were hit by a storm of straight line winds at hurricane speeds. Hundred year old Oaks were pulled completely out of the ground. It was a very sad sight. Sadder for those who had one of those big trees land on there homes. I escaped that kind of damage, but was without electricity for two weeks. I can't imagine the trees ever getting as big as ours do if those winds were a frequent occurrence. I do remember seeing a wonderful collection of trees around the gardens at Balfour castle. So it is possible with a lot of time, effort, careful planning, and probably money to start over when some get lost, to grow trees in Orkney. Karen

... and if ther were any 'significant woodlands' in some sheltered areas like Binscarth and Woodwick - they were cut down by the neolithic people ... ... even the mixture of Berriedale (although probably natural) points to a later date of development ...

On 19/11/03 at 11:00 Simon wrote: >Otherwise we have no problem growing significant woodlands - Binscarth, >Balfour, Woodwick, etc. I think I'd draw the line at calling Binscarth and Woodwick 'significant woodlands'. >but Orkney could be nearly entirely forested (and was 5000 years ago) if so >wished. Nonsense. If that were the case why do we not have acres of natural woodland? The climate 5,000 years ago was considerably more suited to woodland that it is now. By the Bronze Age temperatures dropped and rainfall increased. With it came an increase in winds. This climatic deterioration saw what woodland areas remaining gradually die out. -- Sigurd Towrie Blackhall - Kirbister - Stromness - Orkney Heritage of Orkney: www.orkneyjar.com

Trees in Orkney.Something doesn't Add Up. North of where I am located, we experience weather similar to Orkney, save and except it is colder here in the extreme. The entire James Bay and Hudson's Bay costal areas , consisting of literally thousands of miles of sub arctic and arctic shoreline, expose the land to winds sweeping ashore from vast areas of frigid open sea water. There are areas of hundreds of miles where there is no place to get out of the wind. And finally, when the weather is decent in the arctic summer, the flies would drive the average visitor batty. In southern Hudson's Bay, and moreso along James Bay, the winding rivers that tumble to this icy salt sea, embrace scattered outcrops of trees. The further north one travels, the smaller the trees tend to be, and the longer it takes to grow them. Oversimplified, it is an issue of declining thermal units and shorter growing seasons related to latitude. I flew a small Cessna floatplane in this area for many years, and I was always amazed at where these scattered northern woodlands popped up on that flat never-ending horizon. Rivers like the Harricanaw , the Moose, Albany, Attawapiskat, Ekwan, all on James Bay and the Brant, Sutton, Severn, and Winisk on the Hudson's Bay, all featured these intermittent outcrops of trees on chosen places along their shores. It was in these areas that moose were at their northern limits, and caribou were sometimes sighted. Willow, aspen, birch, and various spruce species seemed to prevail. The willow in particular were and are a valuable foodsource for critters, both feathered and furry, and grew very close to the salty shores. Taller trees were further back. When we would cut dead standing trees by the rivers with a small swede saw, for firewood to fry trout at lunchtime, I would marvel at the tightness of the growth rings. A thousand miles south on our farm, giant maple and oak hardwoods harvested from managed woodlots had significant annual growth rings. In the north, by contrast, skimpy black spruce softwood had razor thin annual growth ring evidence, a testimony to tough conditions and a tenacious species. A seventy five- year- old tree would have a very small diameter. I think, that the appropriate species of trees in Orkney could withstand salt. Those tests have been proven in Ontario's south where millions of tons of salt are poured on the winter road ice, to keep emboldened urbanite yuppie drivers of fuel-sucking monstrous four-wheel mall assault vehicles, from crunching into each other beyond the limits of affordable insurance rates. To simply drive slower would be to refuse the imagery of might that these SUV ads conjure up. This salt bath killed millions of roadside trees. Now the research has been concluded to determine which trees can withstand the annual five-month onslaught. Adjustments have been made. So pass the salt and carry on. The Orkney conditions parallel parts of our north where trees are common. But evidence seems to be that trees that once covered more of Orkney, have been removed, by man or nature or both. In reading Orkneyinga Saga, I see that the Thorfin boys weren't opposed to a good old bonfire on occasion. And I don't recall the likes of Cubby Roo planting any trees. To re-establish that natural cover, takes a lot of time and patience and a significant quantity of money too I suppose. Soil types and composition, localized environmental factors and a dose of modern-day forestry technology and fertilizer all have a part to play. For in our north, undisturbed by man in the remote areas, mother nature has been very picky about just where trees should thrive. I often wondered just what her specifications are. There are no sweeping forests there, just outcrops. But it seems that if someone wanted to dedicate the appropriate acreage and research, somewhere in Orkney, patchwork clumps of trees could thrive. There is a riddle hereabouts: "When is the best time to plant a tree?" Answer.... "Yesterday and today!" It is an ongoing process and commitment. Procrastination contributes to de-forestation. We are not doing a good job in our part of Ontario in terms of long term forest management. We slaughter our prime hardwood sugar maples, the source of the finest syrup in the world, so people in North Carolina and Europe can have nice floors to walk on, or a nice bedroom suite, all at competitive prices. Out of the eyesight of the public, huge, and I mean huge areas of softwood forest are clear cut, every species mowed down to the detriment of every living creature and any hope of benefit of a mixed and healthy long term forest. To fly over or walk in these areas is horrifying. But in the more accessible populated logging areas, scrutinized by bearded urban academics clad in expensive and stylish gore-tex outwear, "environmental wannabees" stumble about with hand held radios and a gps, all within an hour or so of a donut shop and a decent pita and salad, and five star lodging , chatting up conclusions with a hot tub and a cool drink, and never ever seeing the worst of it because I think they don't want to. The tough stuff would put their collective conscience on overload. They retreat southward with exposed film and stuffed digital cameras, filled to the brim with success and spiritual fulfillment, to their lavish penthouses fueled by electricity demands met and generated by oil from Orkney sea floors or coal from Ohio, and sneak about on their gleaming maple floors, on feet clad in cozy moccasins, a souvenir of the last mission north, made from the skins of moose and caribou who cannot any longer appeal for better forest management. Nice, conscientious Canuks, protecting our resources and supporting the status quo. And excellent, consuming tourists. They come from Europe and Japan, in the good weather, to participate in these important, often tax-deductible treks, burning tax-deuctable fuel in their tax-deductable rented monster 4X4 road toys. Canada is perhaps the tree capital of the world. But our stewardship is another issue. We endure lousy management and get away with it because of our resource volumes. Sweden, Norway and Finland all have their act together. Our act is born from sheer greed. In many cases we are the worst stewards of the best resources in the world; water trees and farmland. Perhaps it is the unchanging, simplified and unspoiled aspect of Orkney that makes we foreigners with roots there, long to understand it better. As long as the north sea oil effort doesn't produce, heaven forbid, a tragic spill, it seems Orkney will march forward into the future, undisturbed save as to an eight week influx of camera-clicking curiosity seekers. When I look into the eyes of those incredible seals amongst rocky Orkney shores, on the Charles Tail website, or all those spiritual northern lights shots of late, or the St. Magnus Cathedral on a ghostly wet night, it's thousand year old history defying the shiny wet cars parked out front, or those iconic stark, man-placed stones standing mysteriously and undaunted against the elements for thousands of years, then I instinctively know I am from there, although my next visit there will be my first. In these thoughts and feelings I am not alone. It is unique moreso than many places today struggling for independence, with less valid reasons than Orkney would have to do so. We are amazed at the physical forms of very old history. That evidence is testimony to the uniqueness someone appreciated long ago. Sorry friends, but when trees are bantered about as a subject, this fellow gets a little remorseful, having seen first hand and fresh, some of the worst devastation of the best stands on the planet earth. I figure the reason no trees are on Orkney, is because they were simply cut. Why not get one of those giant companies vacuuming oil from your seas to contribute to a tree planting effort? That's the least they could do. How bout one tree per barrel of oil? You can be sure they won't be replacing your oil, so why not a tree? What are they going to leave after the oil is gone? Tree planting would be an environmental offset for the damage all that spent oil will do to our world air environment, and give them something positive to brag about aside from their profits. When I come to Orkney, I think I'll bring a dozen "sanitized" northern spruce seedlings along. Why not? It could get to be contagious. SCG Davie Hi- > Can't speak for the Orkney islands but here on this one in eastern > Canada we have the highest asthma rate in the country. No part of the > island is more than 14 miles from the ocean. Salt spray kills trees > here > too- Austrian pines seem to be more tolerant. > I was reading recently that some salt flooding in fields doesn't > hurt > the crops (marsh hay harvested on tidal flats was a valued fodder for > years > here, esp. by the early pioneers who didn't have to cut down huge > trees & > then stump to get a crop to feed a cow ) and at one time potatoes- we > grow > huge amounts, with all the accompanying spraying of herb/pesticides- > were > top-killed with a spray of salt water. Alas, that old method isn't > practiced > by modern farmers. > > Some people connect the herb/pesticides with the respritory (spelling > !) > problems. > > cheers Thompson in Prince Edward Island > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Tirabasso" <zorahh@sssnet.com> > To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 6:57 PM > Subject: [<orcadia>] Re:Salt air > > >> Salt air. Ah. Good point. Thanks for bringing that up. Should be >> fairly >> healthy to be breathing that. I'd be curious to know what the >> respiratory >> illness rate there would be like as compared to somewhere with less >> salt > and >> moisture in the air. >> >> >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Sigurd Towrie" <sigurd@orkneyjar.com> >> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> >> Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 7:35 AM >> Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Re:Fiona Northern Lights at last >> >> >>>> An 8 footer! Now that's not too bad at all. I've sort of been >>>> curious. > I >>>> wonder if it's just winds or is it also poor soil? Seems to me just > about >>>> most crops that would grow in the environment grow well there. What >>>> is > it >>>> with trees? Wind? >>> >>> Wind and salt air. I've watched it destroy a young tree (in my >>> garden) > in >> a week. >>> -- >>> Sigurd Towrie >>> Blackhall - Kirbister - Stromness - Orkney >>> Heritage of Orkney: www.orkneyjar.com >>> >>> >>> >>> ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== >>> To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > word >>> 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> >> ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== >> To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the >> word >> 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >> >> > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >

The old trees thing again. For info on native Orkney trees take a look at this url. http://www.firth.orkney.sch.uk/trees/natrees.htm Otherwise we have no problem growing significant woodlands - Binscarth, Balfour, Woodwick, etc. They have to be in the right place and cared for but Orkney could be nearly entirely forested (and was 5000 years ago) if so wished. The more you plant, the more success with the planting. Not Oaks or Giant Redwoods perhaps, but trees nevertheless. Simon. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tirabasso" <zorahh@sssnet.com> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 11:54 AM Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Re:Fiona Northern Lights at last > Granted, I wasn't there any longer than 3 days, but I think I may have seen > one tree in total. > > An 8 footer! Now that's not too bad at all. I've sort of been curious. I > wonder if it's just winds or is it also poor soil? Seems to me just about > most crops that would grow in the environment grow well there. What is it > with trees? Wind? > > Pat > > Fiona wrote: > > > > I think the "trees" the person referred to were those low growing shrubs > > on > > > some of the ridge shots. I had to go back and look. > > > > The ones on the first lot of pictures that I was given are low-growing > > shrubs. > > The ones on my photos are trees, they're about 8 feet tall, not bad for > > Orkney! > > > > Fiona > > > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > > > > > > > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > >

Good morning everyone! It is snowing, right now! I love the snow, makes everything look clean. I have never been to Orkney, but plan to someday soon! This would be my most, exciting trip ever. In British Columbia, Canada, the forests were thick, but with clear cutting, the forests are thinning out quickly. If clear cutting isn't stopped, we too will be saying "where are all the trees"?. Very sad question. Here, in Edmonton, we get the Northern Lights all the time. Some nights, they are bright and seem to dance in the winter's sky. I love taking my dog out for walks around 11pm, just to watch them. All the pictures of the Nothern Lights in Orkney are beautiful! As for Betty Corrigal's grave, and the old Corrigal Farm, I do not know if they belong to my family. My great great grandfather, James Corrigal was born 1794 in Orkney. I have lots of information after arriving to Canada in 1813. I do not know anything about him or his family before 1813. This is were my search ends, but I want to know more. Steve Davie, are you a teacher? Your note was very powerful and makes one think! And all your spelling is correct. I am the worst speller as you will notice! Cheers Tammy Corrigal

Hi- Can't speak for the Orkney islands but here on this one in eastern Canada we have the highest asthma rate in the country. No part of the island is more than 14 miles from the ocean. Salt spray kills trees here too- Austrian pines seem to be more tolerant. I was reading recently that some salt flooding in fields doesn't hurt the crops (marsh hay harvested on tidal flats was a valued fodder for years here, esp. by the early pioneers who didn't have to cut down huge trees & then stump to get a crop to feed a cow ) and at one time potatoes- we grow huge amounts, with all the accompanying spraying of herb/pesticides- were top-killed with a spray of salt water. Alas, that old method isn't practiced by modern farmers. Some people connect the herb/pesticides with the respritory (spelling !) problems. cheers Thompson in Prince Edward Island ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tirabasso" <zorahh@sssnet.com> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 6:57 PM Subject: [<orcadia>] Re:Salt air > Salt air. Ah. Good point. Thanks for bringing that up. Should be fairly > healthy to be breathing that. I'd be curious to know what the respiratory > illness rate there would be like as compared to somewhere with less salt and > moisture in the air. > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Sigurd Towrie" <sigurd@orkneyjar.com> > To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 7:35 AM > Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Re:Fiona Northern Lights at last > > > > >An 8 footer! Now that's not too bad at all. I've sort of been curious. I > > >wonder if it's just winds or is it also poor soil? Seems to me just about > > >most crops that would grow in the environment grow well there. What is it > > >with trees? Wind? > > > > Wind and salt air. I've watched it destroy a young tree (in my garden) in > a week. > > -- > > Sigurd Towrie > > Blackhall - Kirbister - Stromness - Orkney > > Heritage of Orkney: www.orkneyjar.com > > > > > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > > > > > > > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > >

Hi there The Northern Lights are in fact very variable and very unpredictable. Normally the light level is much less than a full Moon, after all it is illuminated by full sunlight and needs an exposure as such like say 250th at f16 with 200 ISO film or it will be washed out, while the aurora needs more like 30 sec at f5.6 and 400 or 800 ISO. For some reason the digital camera I have now is MUCH better than film at getting a feeling for the effects. Probably this is because it (Nikon D100) has a special noise reduction feature for long exposures which makes the blacks black, but also if you use RAW files there is another 2 stops of exposure latitude to use. Sorry to be technical but I think many folk would like to try getting shots of the northern lights. I suggest any digital camera will do, but set exposure to manual if possible, and sensitivity to 400 ISO. A tripod is also a good idea! Set the focus manually at infinity to avoid the autofocus going daft. Then take lots of pix. The biggest reason for not seeing the Northern Lights is not that they are not there - but rather not being able to see them. Clouds of course obscure them, but a bright Moon also makes them barely visible. Of course light pollution so favoured by our politicians also tends to make them invisible to town, village and even many country dwellers. A good idea is to subscribe to http://www.spaceweather.com which gives early warning and lots of info on the sun and thus is useful as a predictor. The result of the moon and clouds is that in Orkney we see the effects much less than we could. Yes they can be green, yellow, blue, red, but are most often green. In fact when you take photos you will see colours you did not see visually. They can be in curtains, a huge arc across the sky, radiate from a point or all of these. They also can make a noise, a hum or crackle, and can be quite eerie when one is on one's own in a remote place in the dark.... We will post more pix when we get them. Hope these tips might be useful to others. Take plenty photos and write down what you did. Of course I always do that......?? -- Charles Tait Photographic Limited, Kelton, St Ola, Orkney, UK KW15 1TR Tel 01856 873738 Fax 01856 875313 Mobile 07785 220269 All outgoing and incoming mail is checked by Norton Antivirus 2003 email charles.tait@zetnet.co.uk website http://www.charles-tait.co.uk

> > An 8 footer! Now that's not too bad at all. I've sort of been curious. I > > wonder if it's just winds or is it also poor soil? Seems to me just about > > most crops that would grow in the environment grow well there. What is it > > with trees? Wind? > > > > I'd guess mostly just the wind. The soil has to play some part, as in more > sandy soil I'd think the tree wouldn't be anchored as firmly and would blow > over more easily. We've got a wall round the front garden which provides a > bit of shelter, the trees in the front garden are significantly taller than > the ones in the back. > There are some trees which are moving so much in the wind today that they're > almost rocking out of the soil - there's a gap around the roots now. > > Fiona > Orkney > > I had noticed that the bed and breakfast where we stayed had a nice little garden but it also was behind a wall. The sandy soil wouldn't anchor a large tree as well, for sure. We were in Orkney in June and I believe the weather was relatively mild. I suppose I didn't see the extremes. This windy weather must be more prevalent in the coming winter and spring? YOu must have a time after high winds going around and pushing trees back into the ground!<g> Pat (Ohio)

And there are trees nevertheless. Not at all like the Orcadian landscape. So different. ... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charlie Petersen" <charliep@olypen.com> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 10:36 AM Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Re:Fiona Northern Lights at last > In the US, we see the stunted trees on the Pacific Coast, twisted and gaunt, > scoured by the salt spray and the wind. > Charlie Petersen > Port Townsend Washington >

Salt air. Ah. Good point. Thanks for bringing that up. Should be fairly healthy to be breathing that. I'd be curious to know what the respiratory illness rate there would be like as compared to somewhere with less salt and moisture in the air. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sigurd Towrie" <sigurd@orkneyjar.com> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 7:35 AM Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Re:Fiona Northern Lights at last > >An 8 footer! Now that's not too bad at all. I've sort of been curious. I > >wonder if it's just winds or is it also poor soil? Seems to me just about > >most crops that would grow in the environment grow well there. What is it > >with trees? Wind? > > Wind and salt air. I've watched it destroy a young tree (in my garden) in a week. > -- > Sigurd Towrie > Blackhall - Kirbister - Stromness - Orkney > Heritage of Orkney: www.orkneyjar.com > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > > >

> I keep trying to imagine what it's like to be there. Some of the pictures > look like a flash of light, some like the sky is filled. Is the light > constantly changing? Does the sky give enough light to see by, in comparison, for > example, to a full moon on a clear night? Are they there all the time when the sky > is clear? The light is constantly changing, dancing (hence the merry dancers). This particular display was an especially good one. There was easily enough light to see to move around, I just had to use a torch to see the settings on my camera. The photos I took were generally at a shutter speed of about 30 seconds, so there's a bit more on the image than you'd see with your eyes at the time. The longer time also intensifies the colour. They were all taken for similar times, so you can judge from that how much the light was changing - some times it was much brighter than others, the colours were constantly changing too. This display was spectacular in that it wasn't just to the north, it was the whole sky that was lit up at times. One of my photos was taken looking straight up, most of the others were actually looking east or west rather than north. Most of the time we just spent outside gazing up, marvelling. It really is awe-inspiring, we stood outside for the best part of 3 hours just watching (luckily it wasn't a windy night!). No, they're not there all the time (as far as I know - physics never was my strong point) - it's basically caused by high speed particles from the solar wind colliding with atmospheric gasses at high altitudes. When there's active sun spots the aurora is generally more active (depending on whether the solar flares are thrown out in the direction of the earth or not). There's been some incredibly powerful solar flares recently, and the ones at the end of Ocrober/start of November were amongst the strongest ever recorded. Just found a good bit of information about the northern lights: "On their way down towards the geomagnetic poles, the solar particles are stopped by Earth's atmosphere, which acts as an effective shield against these deadly particles. When the solar particles are stopped by the atmosphere, they collide with the atmospheric gases present, and the collision energy between the solar particle and the gas molecule is emitted as a photon - a light particle. And when you have many such collisions, you have an aurora - lights that may seem to move across the sky. In order for an observer to actually see the aurora with the naked eye, about a 100 million photons are required." This was by far the best display of the merry dancers that I've ever seen. Mostly when we've seen it, it's been greeny colours, with the off bit of purple. This was the first really coloured display that I've seen. Sometimes it's just silvery or greeny, and just looks like the moon lighting up clouds. Fiona Orkney

Thanks for the good information and insights Charles. I can't help wondering what the residents of Skara Brae would have thought of a display like this year, with no scientific explanation readily available. I can't remember any of the legends passing down stories based on earlier people's thoughts, fears....about the lights. Does anyone remember references in any of the folklore? Karen

replied off list ----- Original Message ----- From: <alan@hepburn.com> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, November 17, 2003 11:47 PM Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Northern Lights at last > On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 22:33:48 -0000, "Fiona" wrote: > > > I've finally got my pics scanned (the scanner is playing up so they're > poor > > quality scans of slides). They're online at: > > www.picturetrail.com/orcadia > > How do you scan a slide? I've tried several times with no luck - what's the > trick? > > Alan Hepburn > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > >

> Granted, I wasn't there any longer than 3 days, but I think I may have seen > one tree in total. > > An 8 footer! Now that's not too bad at all. I've sort of been curious. I > wonder if it's just winds or is it also poor soil? Seems to me just about > most crops that would grow in the environment grow well there. What is it > with trees? Wind? > I'd guess mostly just the wind. The soil has to play some part, as in more sandy soil I'd think the tree wouldn't be anchored as firmly and would blow over more easily. We've got a wall round the front garden which provides a bit of shelter, the trees in the front garden are significantly taller than the ones in the back. There are some trees which are moving so much in the wind today that they're almost rocking out of the soil - there's a gap around the roots now. Fiona Orkney

Thanks Fiona. That really helps in trying to imagine what it must be like. Nothing like really being there, I'm sure. Maybe, someday.... Karen

>An 8 footer! Now that's not too bad at all. I've sort of been curious. I >wonder if it's just winds or is it also poor soil? Seems to me just about >most crops that would grow in the environment grow well there. What is it >with trees? Wind? Wind and salt air. I've watched it destroy a young tree (in my garden) in a week. -- Sigurd Towrie Blackhall - Kirbister - Stromness - Orkney Heritage of Orkney: www.orkneyjar.com

Tammy - Is your family the Corrigal's for whom the delightful Corrigal Hill Farm (museum?) on Mainland is named? Anyone getting to Mainland, O., should surely see this great reproduction of a croft. Jim D - Denver, CO

Hey There Tammy Corrigal: I went to school with a chap named Jim Corrigal. That was in the late sixties. Jim was a defensive tackle in the CFL, and won lineman of the year repeatedly, as well as many Grey Cup Rings. He was raised in Barrie, Ontario, and went to college in the USA n a football scholarship to Kent State University. Seems the Corrigal name is easy to track in Orkney. I see it often in the research notes I have. Too bad you missed the last fifteen minutes of the game. All good stuff! Stephen On Monday, November 17, 2003, at 10:41 PM, Tammy wrote: > Hi Everyone > Thanks for letting me know where to find the pictures. I will check > them out. > Anyone watch the Gery Cup yesterday? The Eskimos came home, with the > cup this morning! I slept through the last 15 minutes of the game! > Stephen gave me some advise, and that was to let the chatline (who is > the chatine?) know my last name. Which is, Corrigal. My Great Great > Grandfather James Corrigal came to Canada in 1813. > I off to check out all the pictures! > Cheers > Tammy Corrigal > Edmonton, Canada > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >

Fiona and Charles the pictures are beautiful. I keep trying to imagine what it's like to be there. Some of the pictures look like a flash of light, some like the sky is filled. Is the light constantly changing? Does the sky give enough light to see by, in comparison, for example, to a full moon on a clear night? Are they there all the time when the sky is clear? A picture may be worth a thousand words, but I'd love to hear some of your descriptions of the experience of being there while the sky is flaming. Karen in Memphis